No Alcohol 2024 February

[NoAlcohol2024February]

Checking in for February 2024 now Dry January is over. Feeling positive for an AF February and the year ahead AF 🤩

36 days here and pleased to have found you all.

I'm on a bit of a journey of self discovery - perhaps a mid life crisis, without the crisis? I've had enough of moderation and one part of my journey is to find out what a life without drinking is like. I don't like some of the decisions I make when I drink.

So I'm going to see where this takes me. No promises for length of time, as I have no need to feel guilty if I pick up a drink again.

Things to feel grateful for so far:

• Great sleep
• No hangovers
• Less irritation
• Eating better
• Doing non- drink activities (cinema, darts, theatre)
• Deeper conversation

Currently listening to Allen Carr's 'Quit drinking without Willpower.'

@VanLife33 - that wasn't a criticism of the article you posted I think she only just started again!

@TeeNoG - I agree drinking at home or for hours on end in a pub is boring. I just find I enjoy the sociable side of drinks and a meal with friends - I can do it sober and enjoy it (sort of) but it's just not the same for me if it's in the evening - lunch is fine . I need to figure out what that means - either staying fully sober or limiting it to the odd night out and feeling under par the next day.

Still hanging in there. This weekend has been very hard. My partner is away which is such a huge trigger. I didn’t fold in the end but there was a bit of devil/angel going on. My sleep is still abysmal and my anxiety is sky high. It would really help if I felt better instead of feeling like shite!

Hi everyone. Thanks for the thread.

You didn't fold though @Atacamadesert . That is pretty fabulous and you are pretty fabulous too.

@Thelittlestranger I am going to write a list of non-drinking activities I think. I love the cinema and never go. have to drive to the cinema so never really bothered. That's going to change too I think.

@Yestodessertplease Yep, I can relate to that. I'd much rather go out in the day too, though I think that's always been the case - I loved a day drinking sesh too........ Maybe going out in the evening will get easier in time. Whatever the case I'm sure you will find the right answer for you.

Checking in to continue No Alcohol 2024. Day 36. Go Team!

@wannabedry I have the same goal! I’d like to get to a place where I’m proud, confident and comfortable ( a bit smug too) to be in company in whatever setting as a non drinker. The Annie Grace book changed my perspective forever more. I read it a few years ago and have since managed a few blocks of several months AF. The longest was probably 1 Jan until the May BH weekend excluding pregnancy.

Checking in

Checking in on Day 11!

Alcohol is no longer dominating any space in my head. The year goal makes this possible for me. I know it’s only February but still I feel quietly confident I can make the full year and maybe beyond.

Supermarket shopping so much easier and cheaper now I swerve past the alcohol isle.

Dining out with friends my bill was £ theirs was ££££. I have to admit I felt a bit smug not an attractive trait I agree but couldn’t help it 🤣

Oh I'd take any inner feelings of smugness available! Call it 'self-validation'.

I haven't gone out yet this time so far but the last time I did a long sober stretch I liked to amuse myself by looking at the wine list and the prices of what would have been my normal tipple and adding up the savings in my head.

Also- if you have not already check out The Sober Cafe on facebook. It's great for motivation and a lovely community. Some of the jaw dropping transformations- not just weight loss, but glowing skin and sheer contentment people get I find to be really inspiring.

Thanks @AboutYouAndPeru I will check out the FB group. Normally my bill would have always been the most expensive and I always paid for my own as I drank triples of spirits and bottles of wine to their singles and glasses. It was so satisfying paying the least for once! It was so easy working out my bill too!

Checking in for the rest of Feb. I did dry Jan and took this last weekend off for some big events. I enjoyed the few drinks at the parties but I can see old ways could slip back very very easily. So on we go!

Morning all!

I am joyfully entering into Day 12. Slept right until my alarm went off at 6 am which is absolutely unheard of. I did have strange dreams about making my neighbours scrambled eggs though. (This is unlikely.)

I'm getting over covid (which tbh has helped my alcohol-free status) so hope to have a fairly easy day today as still quite tired.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day! Thank you again @NoAlcohol2024February for the thread.

I also slept til 6am and I went to bed at 9pm 😮. I was exhausted though as the night before wasn't a great sleep.

I'm now drinking my husband's 0% Leffe beer - not normally a beer drinker but I read somewhere that the hops in beer have a relaxing effect even in AF beer - seems to be working even if it's the placebo effect!

I hope you had a good night sleep @Yestodessertplease .

Morning everyone. My sleep was not that great. Bizarre dreams about work. But I am on Day 13 (Lucky 13!) and my Try Dry app tells me I have saved over £100 . Actually a fair % over £100 but I'm too embarrassed to admit how much.

I've been so tired in the evenings though. Covid doesn't help of course. But last night I managed to iron a load of washing so the Dcs have clean school shirts today. I felt very pleased with myself. And my kitchen floor is very clean.

My skin is breaking out big time though. My cheeks are super smooth but my chin is like a pizza. I'm 50 ffs!!

Also the sugar cravings are something to behold. But never mind- all of this will pass and I don't regret a bit of it.

happy sober days to everyone.

@AboutYouAndPeru you're right, all these crappy symptoms will pass, and they are more than worth it! I'm just over 6 weeks in now, and the tiredness is definitely mostly gone, probably because my sleep is brilliant 🤩

Unexpected moment for me yesterday - I was watching a programme and a waiter was bringing a carafe of white wine to someone's table. My immediate gut reaction was one of 'oh god I am SO glad that's not for me'. It just immediately gave me the fear, an immediate understanding of how crappy I'd feel after it (despite me pretending I felt cool, crazy, happy). Maybe my brain is really learning I'm happier sober 😀

I had a weird craving for red wine last night. I was in bed watching tv and I had eaten my dinner hours before. I just fought it off but it’s bizarre it popped into my head at that time.

Beginning to realise no matter how confident I feel temptations can still creep in at random times.

Lost 4lbs of weight this week SW is actually working so it’s focused my effort to remain AF again.

This week I have been out two evenings in a row for work - both of which I would have usually had a few drinks at.

Catching the earlier train home, driving from the station, not diving into munchies on the train, waking up with a clear head have been brilliant. And enlightening.

Hello, I'd like to join please. I do dry January every year but want to go further this year, I don't have an end goal in mind only that I just feel like being AF for a considerable amount of time. I'm trying to quit smoking too, which for me goes very much hand in hand with drinking so I know I have to be sober for at least a few months if I want to nail quitting that too. I've really enjoyed being sober so far and I've found it quite easy, the smoking is creeping back in though so I need a bit of a reset on that. Well done to everyone else, it's definitely been inspiring to read all your posts.

I have a dinner with a couple of friends this weekend. These people can drink so the temptation will be real! I’ve put a plan in place for Sunday so that will keep me sober! I think going into these events with no plan can lead to looking through rose tinted glasses and having “a few”. @TeeNoG funny you say that about that scene on tv. I had a similar reaction but I actually shuddered, felt ill and thought I will never drink wine again. I think I’m traumatized after the last time I drank. It has to be the worst thing drink to binge. There seems to be a theme in this group of drinking wine. It is the worst!

@Gio1 I hear you on the plan. I'm also determined to try and live properly without drinking. Rather than stay at home to not drink. So tonight we are out with friends who we would usually have a heavy evening with. I would be heading into it looking forward to the laughs, but the impending doom of a hangover tomorrow. And it's been a really hard work week.
So to avoid any awkwardness I've switched it up - and I've booked interactive darts which I'm driving us to.

Also, I can highly recommend Allen Carr's The Easy Way if anyone wants to listen to an audiobook or read it. He calls it the alcohol trap and it's one society has created where we make giving up alcohol such a huge massive hard thing to do. And so we persuade ourselves we need willpower. And then we fail. His approach is to use logic so you don't want to drink, rather than feeling like you are depriving yourself. I'm finding that fascinating.

Hi all, happy Friday - I am out for a bday meal tonight with extended family who are BIG boozers. Now I am alcohol free (so far) I can't think of anything worse BUT it's DH's mum's bday meal, so we have to go. I'm driving. DH's mum and dad are kindly picking the bill up (it will be much cheaper this year as neither me nor DH are drinking!) so that's really nice.

I have another bday meal later this year where I am going to have to put on the big girl pants and say I'm not going to be included in the final bill and that I want to pay for mine separately. I had an incident early December where the bill was split and I had to pay over £150. I'd had £50 of food, one glass of wine and one Diet Coke. Others had drunk a lot more though and myself and someone who was also not drinking much definitely paid over the odds (they were drinking lots and there were cocktails and shots involved). I'm not letting that happen again so am setting boundaries from the start (I hate setting boundaries!!)

Hope everyone has a good AF weekend planned. I'm really getting into the swing of it now. This is a good account to follow on Insta - Hadley Sorensen (she is US based, mid 40's) her thing is 'freedom from moderation'. She was never an every day drinker but she would regularly black out and couldn't control herself when she did drink. These points really resonated:

@wannabedry sounds like you have a plan going forward that’s always a good thing.

Weirdly I’ve been thinking about wine a lot these last couple of days. At the moment it is mind over matter that is getting me through the cravings. Also weight loss is gradual and steady which I want to continue and I know if I drink I’ll put it all back on.

Enjoy your meal out.